Firearm.



H. P. MAXIM.

FIRBARM.

APPLIGATION FILED APB. 23. 1910.

Patented Feb.25,1913.

A ttes .4

in Vemos' Y HIRAM rERcY 'MAXIrL- or merecen.. CONNECTICUT.

` rimer/r.

To all william, may concern.'

Be it known that L HiRAM PERcY Mexm/I,V

a citizen ofthe'United, States, residing in the city of Hartford, in theState of Con necticut, have inventedcertain new and use# v fulImprovements in Firearms, of which the following isa specification,reference being had to the accompanying drawing,- forming a part hereof.This Ainvention relatesparticularly to -th means for securing silencersof devices for reducing the noise of discharge of firearms, upon themuzzle of shoulder arms and particularly of military rifies. It isnecessary that such devices shall be secured in proper alinement and itis also desirable that they shall be capable of being secured,especially upon military rifles, without requiring any change inthe-rifle, even such a change as the cutting-of a mutilated screw threadupon the Y forward extremity of the gun barrelto engagev a correspondinginternal screw thread' in theneck of the silencer. Such a-means as thatjust referred to permits the silencer to be applied to the firearm andremoved at will as is usually desirable in the case of a sporting riie,IWhile in the'case of a military riie it is now considered desirablethat the silencer shall be in the nature of a permanent attachment, thatis, `that it shallv be removable only for the purposes of repair orcleaning. lt is, of course, in all cases desirable that'the silencershall beso secured as to withstand the tendency of the discharge of thefirearm to separate `vit from the barrel. ,y j

It is the object of this invention, therefore, to provide a couplingdevice by which a silencer can be accurately and firmly` secured to thebarrel of a firearm or gun without requiring any modification ofthebarrel. Such coupling may be either an integral part of the silencer orit may be formed separatel therefrom and adapted to be engaged therewithby a mutilated screw thread or other suitable connection.

The improved coupling comprises a sleeve adapted to lit upon the barrel,a split grip-v ping ring to encircle the barrel anda nut or internallythreaded sleeve adapted torengage the threadedportion of the couplingsleeve and at the same time to clamp the f gripping ring tightly aboutthe barrel.

Theinvention will be more fully explained hereinafter with reference tothe accompaspec'ication of Letters ratent. Application filedv April 23,1519. /V SerialA No. 557,238.

'2 is atop view, on a larger scale, A the front end of the rifle and therear of the Patented Feb. 25,1913.

in which- Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a military -rieequipped wit-ha silencer. Fig. showing '.nying drawing in which itisiillustrated and silencer with the improved coupling.l

3 is a detail view in section on the plane 1ndicated by the line 3- 3 offFig. 4. Fig.f lA

is a view, partly in vertical, longitudinal section, on the planeindicated by the line` 4 4 of Fig. 2, the silencer being shown asseparably secured to the barrel. Fig. 5-.is

a detail'view in section on the plane indicated by the line 5 -5 of Fig.4.' Fig. 6 is a detail view showing the coupling as an.-

'integral part o-f the silencer.

The rifie a shown in Fig. l is a military rifle of a well known type,having upon the forward end of its barrel b a band c 'which 'supportsthe front sight block al, the bleekl al being removable as usual. Theblade e of the front sight is mounted in ythe block d as usual. ln theconstructionshown, thecoupling,- hereinafter described, is adapted fo-rapplication'toa firearm having a front sight of the character referredto, but the l I invention is not concerned with the particularconstruction of 'the front sight nor `indeed is the existence of afront, sight abso-- lutely essential. to Atheapplicatitm of theCoupling.

' rl-lhe silencer f may be of any suitable cony struction. It maybeformed separately from the coupling sleeve hereinafter referred to.and'secured thereto by any suitable means, as`by screw threads, as shownat f' 1n Figs. 4 and 5, or it may be formed in one piece with' thecoupling sleeve, as,` shown in `The coupling sleeve g is adapted to tupon the forward extremity of the barrel b. The fit should somewhatvclosey for the sake of accurate alinement, but need not be tight.. .Whenthat portion ofV the barrel which enters the coupling sleeve g bears theyfront sight, as is usually the case, or any other projection, thesleeve g is slotted from its rear end, as at g', so as to straddle theblock, and at its rear end the sleeve is threaded externally, as at g2.Surrounding the barrel in rear of the sleeve g is a split gripwire b.Thfzgripping ring is preferably lping ring h, which may-be formed in twoi or more parts heldv together byfaspring' when clamped thereon.

roughened internally, as at h2, in order that it may have a firm holdupon the barrel A clamping ring z' is formed to engage the couplingsleeve g, bein-g preferably screw threaded, as clearlv shown in'Fig. 4,and also formed to clamp the gripping ring h upon the barrel, preferablyhaving an internal taper whichlcorresponds to the external taper of thegripping Y ring.

ring firmly upon the barrel and simulta` neously drawing the couplingsleeve home. The gripping ring is then anchored firmly to the barrel andthe coupling sleeve is anchored rmly to the gripping ring and thesilencer isv thereby held rmly in position. The tendency ofthe dischargeof the gun is to draw the coupling sleeve forward, but the tendency ofsuch movement is only to cause the gripping ring to grip the barrel moretightly and thereby to hold the silencer more iirmly in place.

It will be understood that the form and relations of the parts may bevaried more or less to suit diiferent conditions of use and that theinvention therefore is not limited to the precise details ofconstruction shown and described herein.

I claim as my invention:

The combination with a firearm having a front sight block, of a'coupling sleeve for a silencer adapted to be slipped upon the barrel andhaving van interior shoulder engaged by the barrel to limit the movementof the sleeve rearwardly and slotted to straddle the front sight block,a split gripping ring adapted to encircle the barrel in rear of thesight, a clamping ring adapted to clamp the gripping ring upon thebarrel and to engage the coupling sleeve and cooperating with the sightto prevent the removal Aof the coupling sleeve from the barrel.

This. specification lsigned and witnessed this :20th day of April, A.D., 1910.

' HIRAM PERCY MAXI-M. Signed in the presence of" ELLA J. KRUGER, AMBROSEL. OSHEA.

